Claire rammed the gearshift into Park, flew from the car, and hit the ground running. There was only one thought on her mind: to get to her baby.
“Lexi!”
Her daughter was already out of the truck, hanging on to the open door, facing the nightmare before them. Claire reached her side, and they clutched each other.
“Mommy.” She pointed down the lane.
The world slid into slow motion. Claire felt intense heat as if from a bonfire gone amuck. Her eyes and throat burned with smoke. The scent of burning sage coated her nostrils. Sizzling, snapping, roaring noises filled her ears. Above it all Samson barked.
In light cast from the truck’s headlamps, three figures emerged, moving toward them. One of them waved an arm.
“Hallelujah!” Indio appeared in the truck’s open door, her arm resting on the steering wheel, legs dangling from the high seat. “It’s Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.”
Claire looked again to the figures. They were firefighters in full gear with helmets, face shields, and breathing apparatus in place. Nearing, they moved things aside, revealing their faces.
“Are you okay?” one shouted above the noise.
“Yeah.” Clearly, Lexi fibbed. Claire felt her trembling as much as she was.
“Where does this road lead?”
From the front seat, Ben called out over Indio’s shoulder. “To our house.”
“We’ll have to take the other way out.” He pointed a gloved thumb over his shoulder. “That direction’s blocked.”
“There is no other way.”
“Huh?”
Ben said, “Fire’s behind the house, coming up through a canyon.”
“How far?”
“Five miles.”
The three strangers exchanged glances. The one doing all the talking yelled, “We’ll check it out. Can you give us a lift?”
Ben nodded. “Climb in front here. But let my granddaughter drive. She knows this road like the back of her hand. Been driving since she was ten.” He motioned to Indio to move to the backseat.
Claire’s legs shook so violently she began to sink to the ground.
Lexi held on to her more tightly. “Mom!”
“Ma’am?”
Claire’s view of slow motion spun into warp speed. The next thing she knew, she was sitting in the passenger seat of her car, next to a stranger who drove it. In the dim light of the dashboard, she saw a black smudge on his cheek. The sight of it brought a sudden balance to her blurred vision. Help had arrived. It really had.
She gulped for air and coughed at the smoke she’d already swallowed.
“Ma’am, why don’t you put your seatbelt on?”
Automatically she reached for it. Through the side window, in the blackness of night and smoke, she saw a pine tree perfectly outlined in fire.
“Seatbelt?” Her laugh bordered on hysterical. At least she recognized it, though. That must mean she was still on the controlled side of hysteria. But then, what did she know?
“Are you all right?”
Claire turned to him. “I’m just fine! We’re driving through a wildfire, going to a house that’s surrounded by fire on three sides, with a canyon on the fourth that’s impassible in broad daylight, and I’m supposed to put on my seatbelt?”
He flashed a grin at her. “Yes, ma’am. Safety first.”
“Oh, dear God.” Dear God. Yes. Dear God.
He had sent help. She and Lexi weren’t standing down the lane, petrified, watching the fire burn toward them. There was a fireman sitting next to her, and two more with her family in the truck. Indio had recognized them right away. That was Indio, and Claire knew she could trust her.
“So,” she said, “are you Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego?”
He chuckled. “The name’s Eddie.”